The wind turbines will also help power a new electric car charging station at East Beach. The Crissy Field Center, an urban environmental education center at East Beach in the Presidio of San Francisco, Calif., unveiled another of its five wind turbines making it one of the greenest buildings in America's national park system.

A company accused of gouging California during the energy crisis has agreed to a $120 million settlement that will fund a statewide network of electric car charging stations, putting the state at the forefront of a growing clean emissions movement.

Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday that NRG Energy Inc. will pay for 200 public fast-charging stations and an additional 10,000 plug-in units at 1,000 locations in the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles Basin and San Diego County.

The governor also signed an executive order to build infrastructure and make other necessary improvements to support 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on California's roadways by 2025.

The payment ends a legal battle with NRG's predecessor company, Dynegy Inc., a Houston natural gas and coal giant that was accused of overcharging the state for long-term power contracts in 2001, at the height of the energy crisis.

The decision to use the money for zero-emission vehicles "is turning a dark chapter in the state's recent past into a fantastic opportunity to build our future," said Adrienne Alvord, the California director of the Union of Concerned Scientists

The settlement bolsters a decision in January by the California Air Resources Board to require battery, fuel cell and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to account for up to 15 percent of California's new vehicle sales by 2025.

In addition to the charging stations, the payment by NRG includes $20 million that will go toward reducing rates for utility customers, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.